Recoil-brake for guns.



PATBNTED MAR. 22, 1904. K. VGLLER. REGOIL BRAKE FOR GUNS.

APPLIOATION FILED JAN. 4, 1904.

e sums-sun 1.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTBD MAR. 22, 1904.

K. VULLER. RECOIL BRAKE FOR GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4. 1904.

04- T E E H A S T E E H d 6 L E D 0 H O N ATTURNEYJ PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

' K. VULLER.

RBGOIL BRAKE FOR GUNS.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN. 4, 1904.

6 SHIIETB-SHEET 3.-

, H0 MODEL.

lvmm

PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

APPLIOAT ION FILED JAN. 4, 1904.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

N0 MODEL.

PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904.

K. VfiLLER.

REGOIL BRAKE FOR GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 4, 1904.

6 SHEETS-SHEET *5.

-N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES lvm ron fMM No. 755,418. PATENTED MAR. 22, 1904. K; VOILLERL REGOIL BRAKE FOR GUNS.

APPLIOATIOK FILED JAN. 4, 1904. H0 MODEL.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

ATTORNEYS NiTEn Tamas Patented March 22, 1904.

REc IL-IBRAK: FOR Gums.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 755,418, dated March 22, r1904 Application filed .Ianuary 4, 1904.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, KARL VoLLnR, engineer, a subject of the German Emperor, residing at 47Ji'1licherstrasse, Dusseldorf,Germany, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Recoil-Brakes for Guns; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description'of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to recoil-brakes for guns in which the recoil of the gun proper on its mounting is braked by hydraulic apparatus. If with such guns an elevation is imparted tothe gun-that is to say, the gun is turned upward upon its trunnionsthen in ad dition to the work which has to be performed by the braking in consequence of the recoil after firing the further work has to be done which arises from the fact that the gun in recoiling runs down an inclined plane. In guns which are only liable to aslight inclination Y as, for instance, any ordinary field-gunsit is taken into consideration that this further work of the gun in recoiling is compensated for by an extension of the recoil. The braking apparatus is consequently in this case made so long that on firing with an elevation the recoil of the gun can be of a more extended length than when firing in a horizontal position. VVit-h guns that have to be fired with considerable elevation-as, for instance, with howitzersno correspondingly long gun recoil can be employed, and care has to be taken to insure that after a certain degree of elevation the length of the gun recoil decreases, because otherwise the gun when elevated could only -eflect its recoil up to the end if a trench had previously been formed in the ground. In order to avoid this, consequently the gun recoil must be shortened with increasing elevation. According to the present invention this is effected automatically by so arranging the brake apparatus that the orifices through which the braking liquid passes from the one side of the piston to the other on the recoil are automatically reduced to a certain degree with a definite elevation as. compared with their sectional area when the gun is in horizontal position. In addition the said orifices are also subject to a variation of the sectional said invention.

Serial no; 1i,727. fui6md e1.)

area during the recoil of the gun,

the elevation downto a certain minimunf according to a determined law, which minimum is reached the sooner thesmaller ,isthe initial sectional area that-is to say, the greater the elevation is. The complete coming to rest of the gun re'coilwill therefore take place the sooner the greater the elevation is. If now the forward motion of the gun were to be started with the said minimum size of the orifices, in-

creased resistance, due to the reduced size of such orifices, would be the more prejudicial, as

the said orifices do not enlarge to the full with an elevation, but only to the said initial size determined by the elevation, although just with an elevation the forward-motion mechanism not only has to overcome the sliding friction,

but also a component of theweight of the gun. In order to obviate the disadvantages arising herefrom, the present invention has a further effect that immediately on the commencement of the forward motion a large opening is provided for the flow of the braking fluid, and this without reference to the size of the openings'during the recoil. By this means it is rendered possible to cause the termination ofthe recoil to take place at a perfectly-determined point, the said openings for the braking fluid being entirely closed at a certain point of the recoil whether the gun be in the horizontal position or at a certain elevation.

On the accompanying drawings are shown several arrangements for carrying out the Figure 1 shows a side view of arecoil-howitzer constructed according to this invention. Fig. 2 shows aback view of th'e howitzer.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section through the upper carriage of the braking mechanism with a certain elevation.

section with another Fig.5 is a sectional View on line A B, Fig. 3. Figs. 6 to 13 show diagrammatically the variations in the flow orifices of the brake-pis- Fig. 4 shows a similar ton during the recoil and during the forward motion, Figs. 6 to 9 show the action with a horizontal position of the gun; and Figs. 10 to 13 showthe same with an elevation of thirty degrees, Figs. 14 and 15 showing longitudinal sections with different positions of the parts being re- 'duced from the initial amount determined by position of the parts.

through a brake mechanism in which also the forward motion is subject to regulation according to the elevation. I

On the drawings, the gun proper is designated by a, the upper carriage b, and the brake-piston rod 0. The piston-rod is fixed at its front end to the upper carriage, and the brake-cylinder, which is fixed to the gun, projects beyond the upper carriage on the recoil of the gun. In Fig. 1 the extent of recoil corresponding to the horizontal position of the gun suflicient for bringing it into the position of restis shown in dotted lines. There is alsoshown the position of the gun and the upper carriage with a high elevation. It will be seen that if the gun when in this position on firing had the same extent of recoil as shown in dotted lines the end of the brake-cylinder and of the gun couldv only run back freely if in the first instance a hole had been dug out p in the ground. The gun recoil must therefore be shortened for the elevated position,

' as show in dottedv lines of the elevated position at Fig. 1.

As will be seen from Figs. 3 to 5, the piston-rod c is attached to the upper carriage, so as to not have any longitudinal motion, but so as to be rotatable. It'carries at the front end a toothed segment d, with whichengages a toothed segment 6, fixed on a shaft f. The latter is mounted in the upper carriage and carries an arm g, Figs. 3 and 5. When the upper carriage, together with the gun, is turned upon the trunnions h. the arm g will bear against a fixed stop It on the carriage, whereby the toothed segment 6 isjturned to a certain extent in the direction of the arrow shown at Fig. 5. This turning is transmitted through the toothed segment 01 to the piston-rod c. If the gun is turned in the contrary direction that is to say, from an elevated position into the horizontal position or into a less-elevated positionthe piston-rod will also be turned in the contrary direction, this being effected in thearrangement shown by means of a torsional spring '0', carried by the shaft f.

The brake-piston carried by the piston-rod 0 consists in the arrangement at Figs. 3 to 5 of two parts. The rear partl constitutes the valve-seat and is rotatable upon the pistonrod, but cannot move longitudinally thereon. The front part m of the piston, which constitutes a disk valve, can move longitudinally on the piston-rod, but cannot turn thereon. The valve-seat l engages with a feather in a groove 0 of the brake-cylinder n, which groove is of helical or other suitable form, as shown at Figs. 3 and 4. Fig. 3 shows the position of the parts which they assume toward the end of the recoil. The braking fluid flows in the direction of the arrow marked in front of the piston through the openings formed in the divided piston. which are' in a position relative to each other corresponding to the degree of elevation. As the valve-seat Zin consequence of the groove-and-feather connection with the brake-cylinder willturn farther during the continuance of the recoil, an increased throttling and finally a complete closure of the openings of the disk valve of the piston will .take place, such valve being, as before stated,

non-rotatable. By this means the limitation of the recoil is effected. As soon as the forward motion commences the braking fluid flows back again in the direction of the arrow shown at Fig. 4 on the piston, and thereby presses the disk valve 'm away from the seat Z, so that the passage-openings are fully opened.

Figs. 6 to 13 show the relative movements of the disk valve and of the valveseat and the consequent variation of the passage areas. The free openings are indicated by hatched lines. It is assumed that in Fig. 6 the recoil commences with a horizontal position of the gun. The openings ofthe disk valve m and of the valve-seat l comprise an angle of sixty degrees. In the initial position (shown at Fig. 6) the openings in the two parts coincide with each other, so that the entire opening is free for, the passage of the braking fluid. During the recoil the valve-seat Zis turned in the above-described manner upon the piston-rod, such turning being, for example, also sixty degrees, according to the form of the groove 10. The openings are then entirely closed, and the recoil must cease. In this case the longest recoil has been reached. This relative position of the parts of the piston is shown at Fig. 7 On the commencement of the ensuing forward motion the brake fluid passing through the openings of Z presses the disk valve m away, and the entire area of the openings are free, as at Fig. 8. During the forward motion the valve-seat Z is again turned into the initial position by the groove 10, whereby the relative positions of the openings of Z and m are again established, as at Fig. 9. When the gun is elevated, the action takes place in an analogous manner only, -as' shown at'Fig. 10. The disk valve m is already turned by the act of elevating to a certain extent relatively to Z. I will assume that this turning is eflected through thirty degrees. In this case at the commencement of the recoil the passage-openings in l are already reduced to one-half, as at Fig.10. During the recoil the valve-seat I again turns, so that the closing of the openings in this case already takes place when this rotation is effected through thirty degrees as compared with sixty degrees for the horizontal position, as shown at Fig. 11.- If it be assumed that the curved groove 10 constitutes a regular helix, then the gun recoil will have been reduced one-half with the assumed elevation. The forward motion takes place, as shown at Figs. 12 and 13, again with completely-uncovered passage-openings as the disk m is moved away from the seat Z.

With the described construction the large with passage-opening formed for the running-forward motion is always the same as shown whether the gun is in horizontal position or has a greater or less degree of elevation. This is subject to certain disadvantages, inasmuch as the running-forward springs, which, for instance, with the greatest amount of elevation (in which they will have in addition to raise the gun to a certain extent) have a very eflicient action, will effect the forward motion much too powerfully with a horizontal position of the gun. These disadvantages are avoided in the arrangement shown at Figs. 14 and 15 in that there is added to the divided brake-piston a third disk 0, situated behind the valve-seat Z and capable of sliding upon the piston-rod, but not of turning thereon. This disk, which is also formed with passageopenings, moves away from the piston during the recoil, asshown at Fig. 14, and therefore does not aflect the above-described action for the recoil, as it leaves the piston-openings perfectly free. On the other hand, at the commencement of the forward motion it is pressed against the valve-seat Z by the action of the braking fluid passing in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 15, while the disk valvem moves away from the valve-seat in the before-described manner. As the disk 0 cannot turn on the piston-rod c, it will be turned on elevating the gun to the same extent as the piston rod and valve-disk m, so that on elevating the gun the passage-openings will also be regulated in respect of the forward motion. It will be seen that the conditions for the variations of the passage-openings for the forward motion are the opposite of those for the recoilthat is to say, with a high elevation the position of the gun has a favorable action with regard to the recoil, and consequently, as described, there must be effected a reduction of the passage-openings at the moment of firing. During the forward motion, on the other hand, the weight of the gun, exercises a resisting action, and consequently with an elevation the passage of brake fluid through the piston must consequently be rendered more easy as compared with the horizontal positionthat isto say, the sectional area of the passage-openings must be greater during the forward motion with an elevation than itis with the horizontal position. In order to effect this, the openings or controlling edges of the disk oare so situated relatively to those of the disk m that at the end position of the forward motion -(corresponding to the initial position of the recoil) they only allow of a minimum passage-opening through the piston when the disk mallows of the maximum opening. This is the case With an increasing elevation, in which in the above:described manner the disk m closes the g -openings more and more for the recoil, disko, which lies against the valve-seat l the horizontal position of the gun.

Having thus described the nature of said invention and the best means I know of carrying the same into practical eflect, I claim- 1. In brake apparatus for guns recoiling upon the carriage an arrangement for automatically reducing the extent of recoil on the gun being elevated consisting of a brake-cylinder, a piston-rod, means for rotating the latter during the elevation of the gun, a piston arranged onthe said piston-rod and composed of a disk valve that can slide longitudinally but cannot turn on the piston-rod and a valveseat rotatable on the piston-rod and provided with passages for the braking fluid, a feather on the valve-seat and a groove arranged in the brake-cylinder and engaged by the said feather, substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.

2. In brake apparatus for guns recoiling upon the carriage an arrangement for automatically reducing the extent of recoil on the gun being elevated consisting of a brake-cylinder, a piston-rod, means for rotating the latter during the elevation of the gun, a piston arranged on the said piston-rod and composed of a disk valve that can slide longitudinally but cannot turn on'the piston-rod and a valveseat rotatable on the piston-rod and provided with passages for the braking fluid,a feather on the valve-seat, a groove arranged in the brakecylinder and engaged by the said feather and means for regulating the passages of the valveseat during the forward motion of the gun,

substantiallyas described and for the purpose set forth.

3. In brake apparatus for guns recoiling upon the carriage an arrangement for automatically reducing the extent of recoil on the gun being elevated consisting of a brake-cylinder, a piston rod, means for rotating the latter during the elevation of the gun, a piston arranged on the said piston-rod and composed of a disk valve that can slide longitudinally but cannot turn on the piston-rod and a valveseat rotatable on the piston-rod and'provided with passages for thebraking fluid, a feather on the valve-seat, agroove arranged in the brakecylinder and engaged by the said feather and a second disk valve that can 'slide longitudinally but cannot turn on the piston-rod, subgtanltiially as described and for the purpose set ort In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

KARL VOLLER. 

